SC - Profit was Opinions?

[Morgan Cain]

I am responding to a number of messages from the last Digest, and they were written by different persons.  However, to save space and make less aggravation for me, I am putting various items together in one long message.  If people find it too confusing, please let me know and next time I'll answer each one separately.

>>> I fear that the high costs of sites may doom the SCA
>>> and all like us in the end.

I disagree.  There are a lot of less expensive sites around, but people either get in the habit of using the expensive ones or the cheaper ones have problems that cannot be overcome (need to bring chairs and tables, must close at 10:00pm, no fighting site closer than a park a half-mile away, etc.).  Sometimes the less expensive sites are just tackily 21st-Century looking or have bad traffic lines (such as schools) and people don't want to or cannot work around the problems.

>>> And don't think Churches will always welcome us, many
>>> won't rent to us in Calontir because they don't want
>>> the Sunday setup disturbed.

How strange.  I think of the last half-dozen indoor events I've been to in that Kingdom, the majority were in churches.  Both of the recent Coronations were, for two.

People tend to like churches because of the nice "medieval" feel you get from the soarting spaces and painted windows, not to mention the fact that they are generally available on Saturdays.  In some other kingdoms, there are regular events that meet in the same church every year.  The problem more tends to be when non-members ask to rent, and churches are less likely to be cooperative.  In almost all the cases where a church is involved, someone in the group belongs to the congregation and makes the overtures.  It's a lot easier to get them to trust that you WILL have everything in order for Sunday that way.

I have also seen, in a place not Calontir, a site that required a $12.00 per person site fee, that the autocrats or group insisted upon using because it was "SOOO pretty!"  And yes, it was nice, but a lot of people complained about the site fee.  I think it's the only event I've attended where site was more than feast!

>>> Outdoors sites are best for cost but many groups can't
>>> afford to buy or rent the burners for cooking outdoor feasts.

Not to mention tents in case of inclemency.  Down here in Ansteorra, we tend to rent youth camps and other sites like this.  Often they have a mess hall that we can use, although the quality of the kitchen and seating facilities may vary.  But if you are limited to public parks, you have all the limits that entails, from no water or washrooms to no shelter or cooking space.

>>> I beleive that if there were more space, the feast would
>>> be open to larger numbers of people rather than have "non-
>>> eating" seats...

I wouldn't count on it -- the kitchen may limit how many people can be fed.  I have been to sites that would hold 300 people to sit, but have only the most rudimentary of kitchens.  It's hard to serve a really lovely feast to that many when you have a household stove and 'fridge located in an open corner of the hall as your only cooking space.

>>> Corpora does not set limits on the size of a bank balance,
>>> nor does the IRS.

Remember, Bear, she was talking Ealdormere, which is a different set of laws than we have down here.

>>> .... then your group was likely the victim of
>>> "balance envy."  

We had that in a group I was on back in the Midrealm.  We were just too entirely good at fundraising, and had the benefit of a hall that could rent for $100.00 (through our student affiliate at the university).  It is a shire or college (depending upon whom you asked), but we had more money than any barony in the region, and I remember one report where we had more money than most of the rest of the groups in our region, combined.

How good were we?  We would hold events with no site fee and no feast charge, feeding about 220-250 persons a three-course meal.  Merchants were charged a nominal dollar per table (none if they didn't use one of ours).  And we still MADE MONEY on the event.  This on top of actual fundraising such as commemorative T-shirts and paid demos.

Nobody told us we had to get rid of the money, but we looked around and said "there's no point in just piling up more."  We tithed to Kingdom, we bought armor and list supplies, we stocked our medikit so well they are probably still using the stuff, we bought A&S supplies and had a teacher come in for a workshop.

And we still had half the bank account left.

>>> The goal is to plan for a small profit and accept a
>>> small loss.  If a group does its costing effectively,
>>> the two balance out over time.  Regular excessive
>>> profits or regular losses tend to say something
>>> is wrong with the planning.

<SNIP>

>>> I've seen a few events go in the hole because the
>>> expected crowds did not arrive.

Agreed.  Our only really big loss was a Cooks' Collegium that the hostess insisted upon holding against a major event about an hour and a half away.  It was outside the Kingdom distance limits, but many of the persons who would otherwise attend went to the big event and didn't attend the Collegium.  The hostess purchased food in advance for a spectacular feast, and we had quite a lot of leftovers.

Of course, last-minute weather can play games with the attendance, as can other factors.  While you cannot do anything about weather, you can learn from problems (should we have said "once the warlord tourney is over, there will be other fighting scenarios until suppertime"?  "the arts of war as well as the arts of peace will be taught in classes at Artisan"?  "free lunch for the first 100 persons through gate"?) and hopefully things will go better next time.

                            ---= Morgan


PS:  You know, we can all stop bidding AGAINST each other, gang up, and buy the Platina.  Near as I can decipher, the bidders on that item are almost all members of this list.  Play nice, people!
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